the_realm_of_wonderfandomcom-20200213-history
Deep Blue Sea Tavern
Low tide:One half of the bar looks relatively normal: a tender polising glasses by the barrels, tables (made of stone) empty and terribly lit. However, the floor cuts away in progressively lower bands, and the lowest half, farthest from the door you entered, is partially underwater. A second door is open to the ocean. A cage filled with fish is at this end, and another tender, one with gills as well as elf ears, feeds them. High tide: Only the highest level of this bar, the one where the barrels and the door are, is clear from the waves that lap across the rest of the room. In strips about five feet wide the bar steps down deeper into the water, and the far end the water is higher than head height. Aquatic dwellers, elves mostly, fill those tables, chatting while devouring live fish sold from a cage. A couple members of the land races make talk with the Aquatics. The Deep Blue Sea is located in the Docks area of a harbor city. It connects both to the open sea and the street. The sign on the street entrance is a painted horizon, with a ship in the far distance. The walls and floor of building are made of stone. The roof is flat and wooden, but the floor steps down in wide bands, each step about three feet deeper than the last. Irregularly shaped stone tables populate every band but the highest. On the lowest band, benches line the wall near the floor, and again near the high tide water line (for use by land customers at high tide). The water is warm enough in this area that people are comfortable partially submerged in the water, whether they have gills or not, so all the tables are filled by mixed customers at high tide. There are two employees at all times in the Deep Blue Sea, one tending the barrels on the dry side, another dispensing fish at the lowest. These two are usually Keriv Blue and his Aquatic Elf cohort, Portel Walking Shark. The Deep Blue Sea "Find a niche and fill it." That was the advice a merchant gave her son when he came of age. That son, a human named Keriv Blue, spent the first half of his life on one of his mother's company ship or another, usually as captain. Unlike most pampered sons of industry, he earned his captaincy, so it came as quite a blow when his younger sister inherited the business after their mother passed. Her first act was to kick him out of the fleet But Keriv had spent his life adventuring, and had built up quite some savings through that. What surprised everyone (including his sister) was that instead of buying a ship and making for the horizon, he opened a bar that did what no other bar he'd ever encountered had done: cater to both sea and land creatures. And he opened it right in the same city that his sister's company was based in, the sister who got seasick in a bathtub and had never traveled in open water. When asked why he did such a thing, Keriv will only smile and offer you the house speciality, the Seasick Swallow. Seasick Swallow: Named not for a bird but how you drink it, the Seasick Swallow is technically a poison. It is light transluscent-green in color, and tastes faintly of brine. It costs one silver piece per drink (one ounce). {table]TypeInitial DamageSecondary damageInjested DC 11/1d4 penalty to Balance and Concentration checks for two hours/Nauseated 1 round/table Gather Information or Knowledge (local) DC 5: The best place to find an Aquatic Elf in this city? That's Keriv's Deep Blue Sea, by the docks. It's the only place in town that feeds the fish Elves, AND serves a mean kicker of a drink. DC 10: Head down there, and you might rub elbows with some of the best sailors in the world. All of Captain Keriv's old friends hang out there, and they didn't get their rank by looking pretty, let me tell you. And it ain't just the landfolk; no shark dares show its face anywhere near those Elves, not even the bigguns you get out in the open water. DC 15: You didn't hear this from me, but the shipping guild doesn't care for Keriv none, nor his bar. The guild is in his sister's pocket of course, but only the leaders. Keriv might say he isn't waging war against his sis, but the whole guild is choosing sides and drawing lines just the same. DC 15: As I hear it, when Keriv got the boot from his sister, so did his first mate, who works there in the bar with him. And you know what, it turns out his first mate was a prince among the Aquatic Elves. Just about every Aquatic Elf that worked for the Wavebreaker Blue Fleet, the ones that had been able to guarantee safe passage for the fleet, quit the next day. That girl is on shaky ground now. DC 20: Now listen good, Keriv knows more about the shady side of ships than he lets on. Just about every smuggler or pirate captain pays him a visit when passing through, and not just for the drinks. If I ever needed to slip a package through customs, or slip out myself on a fast ship, I'd ask a favor of old Captain Blue. Keriv Blue (CG). Rng 5/Horizon Walker 1. Keriv possesses the Aquatic Terrain Mastery, Two-Weapon fighting style, the leadership feat, and maximum ranks in Profession (Sailor), Survival, Swim and Knowledge (Geography). His animal companion is a porpoise that spends a lot of time swimming near the sea door. His cohort is an Aquatic Elf Brb 4. Keriv does have his hand in the local smuggling around his city, but does not knowingly consort with real pirates. He also is deep enough into the local Shipper's guild to get temporary guild permits, granting the bearer the right to work on a ship that transports cargo from the harbor, at whim. A small bribe is needed of course, but 1 gp forgoes the usual background check the guild runs on applicants, and speeds the process to under an hour instead of a day. Thus, he is the best person to see when you need to become part of a "legitimate" crew, especially one leaving port that day. Since the temporary sailors he "recruits" tend to be pretty good at fighting (if often poor sailors), many captains stop by the Deep Blue Sea just to pick up an extra few hands. As a contact, Keriv is pretty resourceful. In addition to his ability to get people (and whatever they can carry) out of town with no questions asked, he also has intimate knowledge of the Shippers guild, which controls all legitimate traffic through the harbor, and significant contacts among the smugglers (though like pirates, he does not associate with evil smugglers). As a contact, he can get an entire ship into or out of the harbor without being inspected by the guild, but he will only do so once on behalf of a character/party or ship, as the brides he must lay out are heavy. Every regular to the bar is fiercely protective of its sea breathing customers. Insulting one is a good way to start a bar fight. And the sea gods help you if you draw a weapon at an Aquatic Elf, let alone Keriv or Portel. If such an event occurs, the landed patrons will use the uneven floors to knock you, and anyone that helps you, to progressively lower levels, until you are waist deep in water, surrounded by Aquatic Elves. EL 10 (6 PHB race Rog (or Swashbuckler) 2 and 8 Aquatic Elf Rng 3.) Notable Regulars As the patrons of the Deep Blue Sea are, one and all, people of the sea, there are few who can be counted on to be there on any particular day. But a few people, on both sides of the law, stop by whenever they are near. A few are: Captain Raina Glace, Smuggler Queen. CN Halfling Brd 2/Rog 4. Raina is short, even by halfling standards. She makes up for it with personality, an excellent singing voice, and a willingness to gut anyone who annoys her. With her all Halfling crew and her ship, the Ice Queen, Raina is one of the best smugglers to call on this harbor. Her speciality is magic items, as they are small, expensive, easy to conceal, and the Shippers Guild slaps a 10% tax on any magic items that are off-loaded into their harbor. Her and Keriv go way back, remaining friends, even if he has to ignore some of the things she does to earn a living. It helps that she hates slavers too. When they get caught, maritime security gets tighter, which makes it harder for her to make her living. If she likes you, Raina makes an excellent contact and ally. As said, she isn't as squemish as Keriv, and so knows a rougher crowd than he does. Even better, they are a bit scared of her. If she REALLY likes you, she mgiht be able to get a magic item that is beyond the GP limit of the city (at full pirce plus 5%, which is still a good deal). Arex (LN Half-Elf Diviner 4) and Drack (LN Half-Orc Ftr 2/Brb 2), port officials. Arex and Drack are two members of the Shipper's guild. It is Arex's job to root out people that try to cheat the Shipper's guild, and it is Drack's job to use his greatsword on the offenders. After working together for nearly three years, the two have reached a state of seamless teamwork, and their impressive string of arrests are a testement to that. Unlike most of the Shipper's guild, they do not take bribes, but they like Keriv anyways. Rather, they don't like his sister enough that they are his biggest advocates in the guild. Arex and Drack are big names in the Shippers guild. If it is known that they are your friends, just about everyone (except for the highest levels) in the guild will find ways to be friendly as well. Arex's spellbook has several rare divination spells, which he might share with another wizard. Strangely, Raina and Drack get along well, and sometimes brawl in a friendly way when she's passing through. Getting on his good side goes a long way towards gaining hers. Sample Plot Hook 1: Keriv occasionally calls in favors from people he helps get out of town. When a fleet of pirates starts picking off ships near the city, your number comes due. Alternatively, Keriv might ask you to fight on one of his friend's ship against the pirates, and in exchange, he will owe you a favor. 2 (Mid level adventurers): All the bar's elves, even Portel, dissapear one day and stay gone for a week. Not being powerful enough to do it himself, Keriv asks your party to investigate. This could be as simple as a scry spell, or as complicated as a week long trek to the underwater Kingdom of the Elves. 3 (High Level adventuers): Raina needs help. She had agreed to smuggle a magical item out of a nearby harbor, and the iron box turned out to have been the phlactary of a recently killed lich. When it regenerated, it took over her ship and crew, and Raina was lucky to have escaped with her life. She wants the Ice Queen back, and is willing to pay in the form of a few magical items she has cached nearby. This adventure will involve tracking down the Ice Queen, now a pirate vessel, getting onboard, and destroying the lich and phlactary, all without harming the crew. Category:Taverns Category:Locations in Baldur's Gate